The TMA determines dimensional changes of a sample (e.g. solid, liquid or pasty material) as a function of the temperature and/or time under defined mechanical loading.
The DMA determines a deformation force on a sample as a function of the temperature and/or time under defined dynamic-mechanical deformation.
The “deformation force” and the “deformation” can be measured and processed as such, i.e. understood as a force or a path (by which the sample is deformed). In connection with a standard DMA “in the narrower sense”, wherein the sample is subjected to a deformation (deformation path) changing sinusoidally with time, the “deformation force” and the “deformation” can on the other hand also be characterised by a “force amplitude” (of the sinusoidally varying deformation force) or “path amplitude” (of the sinusoidally varying deformation path).
TMA and DMA can for example provide valuable information concerning properties, composition, structure, production conditions and possible uses of materials.
As a typical area of use of TMA, the characterisation of plastics (e.g. elastomers), paints and lacquers, composite materials, adhesives, films, fibres, ceramics, glasses and metals may be mentioned merely by way of example.
DMA can for example be used to determine viscoelastic material properties (moduli, loss factor, attenuation etc.) or temperatures which characterise the elastic or viscoelastic behaviour of a material.
Apart from the already mentioned use for TMA and DMA, the invention can for example also be used for so-called relaxation measurements, wherein a deformation force on a sample is measured and recorded as a function of temperature and/or time under defined, in particular for example constant, mechanical deformation loading.
Although a wide variety of devices and methods of the type mentioned at the outset are known in the prior art, a need for improvements to such devices and methods, for example with regard to the performance of the most precise possible measurements with a straightforward and reliable design, continues to exist in practice, especially for use with TMA and/or DMA.